William Watson Purkey

William Watson Purkey (b. August 22, 1929) is an author and professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the developer of a communication model called "Invitational Education" And Co-founder with Betty Siegel of the International Alliance for Invitational Education. The Alliance is located in the U.S. and has an international center in Hong Kong 1.

His professional career includes service as a public school teacher, a U.S. Park Ranger, and a bomb disposal specialist in the US Air Force. He was tenured full professor at the University of Florida as well as at UNC.

Purkey received his bachelors, masters, and doctorate from the University of Virginia. During his career, he received awards that included the University of Florida "Award for Instructor Excellence," the Standard Oil Foundation "Good Teaching Award," and the "Outstanding Teacher Award," presented by Omicron Delta Kappa, National Leadership Honor Society. In 1997, Purkey received the "The Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching" given by the UNC Board of Governors. In 2005, he received the "Excellence in Education Award" from the Royal Conservatory of Music for his work in learning through the arts.

An ACTIVE writer, Purkey has written nearly a hundred professional publications and more than a dozen books. Most recently, he co-authored Fundamentals of Invitational Education with John Novak, and From Conflict to Conciliation: How to Defuse Difficult Situations with Novak and John J. Schmidt. Other authors, such as Novak (2002), have expanded the application of invitational theory and practice.

External links

• International Alliance for Invitational Education
• Hong Kong Center for Invitational Education 2